We come together at this conference to learn from the leaders in our field about what’s working in our fight to end homelessness. It provides us an opportunity to look critically at services, policies and efforts happening around the country.

This is especially important now when so much work is happening in Connecticut to address family and youth homelessness. We are in the midst of our first-ever youth count to get a true picture of the numbers of runaway and homeless youth are in our communities. Later this year, a blueprint will be published, identifying both the services needed to support this population and the steps to take to put those services in place. We are optimistic that rapid rehousing, perhaps our most effective intervention in the fight to end family homelessness, will be ramped up with additional state funds in the coming fiscal year. CCEH’s own Be Homeful Campaign provides an opportunity to provide diversion resources to communities around the state to reduce the numbers of families having to enter shelter.

This is an exciting time for those of us working to end homelessness among families and youth. I look forward to my two days in San Diego to learn from my peers and bring back information to support these efforts.